"More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government's approach to tackling addiction. Research from King's College London, shared exclusively with BBC News, found that there were 39,232 opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2022, more than 50% higher than previously known. The error has been blamed on the government's official statistics body not having access to post-mortem reports or toxicology results."
"The reliability of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data relies on coroners naming specific substances on death certificates, something which often does not happen. Specific substances such as heroin are instead sometimes only included on more detailed post-mortem reports or toxicology results, which the ONS does not have access to. Government data on overall drug deaths, which does not name specific substances, is not affected by the error, but ministers' decision-making is generally influenced by the more granular statistics."
Official counts understate opioid fatalities in England and Wales by more than 13,000 deaths between 2011 and 2022, yielding a total of 39,232 opioid-related deaths and a rise over 50% compared with previous figures. The undercount stems from the national statistics body lacking access to coroners' post-mortem reports and toxicology results, while death certificates often omit specific substances. Overall drug death totals remain unaffected, but granular substance-specific data drive policy and funding decisions. The government is engaging coroners to improve reporting, and oversight bodies warn accurate data could influence funding and treatment provision.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]